BY BIRGITTA ISACSSON AND HILDING EKLUND
GOTHENBERG, Sweden - "Thank you for an interesting
discussion with inspiring visions. Besides that, you have
exciting books. I hope I can come back to you," wrote one
visitor in Pathfinder's guest book at the bookfair held here
October 22-25. It was the seventh time supporters of Pathfinder
Press have attended the annual event.
The young woman who signed the book was interested in the Cuban revolution. She bought Che Guevara Speaks in English and Socialism and Man in Cuba in Swedish. After further discussion on socialism and what other Pathfinder books are about at a nearby McDonald's, she also bought the Swedish-language edition of Socialism on Trial by James P. Cannon, a founding leader of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States who was jailed during World War II for speaking out against Washington's imperialist slaughter. The book is the transcript of his courtroom testimony in that trial.
The big majority of those who visited the Pathfinder booth were young people, including a youth of about 12, who bought The Communist Manifesto last year and Socialism and Man in Cuba this year. The booth was staffed by supporters of Pathfinder from United Kingdom and Sweden.
Tens of thousands of people attended the event. The first day and a half was open only to publishers, librarians, and other professionals; after that the general public was admitted. Pathfinder supporters sold 79 books during the fair, worth about $800. Books by Ernesto Che Guevara were best sellers. Twenty-four copies of the Swedish-language pamphlet were sold, and five copies of Che Guevara Speaks sold out.
Frank Kofsky's book John Coltrane and the Jazz Revolution of the 1960s sparked a lot of attention. A "jazz freak," as he called himself, bought three copies of the book for himself and as gifts for friends.
There was also considerable interest in books on the question of women's liberation. One woman who was working with battered women bought Sexism and Science and Woman's Evolution, both by Evelyn Reed, to learn and inspire women to read more about their history. Woman's Evolution sold out - two copies in English, one in Swedish, and one in Farsi. Marxism and the Feminist Movement, a pamphlet by Mary-Alice Waters, also sold out, as did Sexism & Science.
The stall featured big displays of the newly published issue no. 11 of New International and the Swedish-language edition of New International no. 10, which includes the lead article "Imperialism's March toward Fascism and War" by Jack Barnes. Many expressed surprise at the title of the feature article in issue no. 11, "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War," also by Jack Barnes, and the display sparked many discussions and sales.
Four youths stopped to look at the booth and immediately started to ask, "Explain what Trotskyism is!" "How can a planned economy work?" "What is a Leninist party?" They returned three times during the day and ended up buying Socialism on Trial and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Many young people decided to get a weekly update of working-class politics and bought subscriptions to the Militant. Altogether seven subscriptions were sold. Others decided to buy An Action Program to Confront the Coming Economic Crisis in Swedish or Leon Trotsky's pamphlet Fascism: What it is and How to Fight it.
The volunteers staffing the booth also publicized the November tour of Olga Díaz Ramos, a leader of the Union of Young Communists of Cuba. She is speaking in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, including visiting Gothenburg November 22-24.
Hilding Eklund and Birgitta Isacsson are members of the Metalworkers Union in Stockholm.